By Andy Young
Broo Limited has announced that it is working with environmental scientists and is planning to establish the world’s greenest brewery – Broo at Ballarat.
The brewer said it has identified “a number of key technologies” that will enable it to build the $100m brewery. The new brewery will provide ongoing employment for up to 100 people and is projected to provide a $28m tourism boost to the region every year.
Broo has spent around $2.16m to acquire land within the Ballarat West Employment Zone, to construct the brewery, which will include a visitor centre, museum, brewing experience tour and open space entertainment zones.
Speaking about the brewery proposal, Broo’s Founder and CEO, Kent Grogan, said: We are delighted that we will be able to start producing Broo beer at our own plant.
“The addition of Broo at Ballarat to our recent acquisition of the Mildura Brewery will allow our two flagship beers, the Broo Premium Lager and the Australia Draught to appear in many more stores throughout Australia, and will allow us to fill the increased demand that we are beginning to see for our product.
“We are committed to integrating a raft of state-of-the-art environmentally sustainable technologies that will help preserve our environment, conserve our resources and use our energy efficiently to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and enable carbon neutral beer production.”
The key technologies at the new site include:
- A sustainable water source;
- Waste solids to energy production;
- Efficient and best practice waste water treatment and recycling technologies;
- Green, renewable electricity sources.
The brewer said that by using these and other water efficiency measures it is aiming to drastically reduce the current ratio of needing five litres of water to make one litre of beer, which the brewer says will save 300m litres of water a year. It will also install on-site solar, wind turbines and bio-gas to make all the electricity used at the brewery 100 per cent renewable, greenhouse gas free and carbon neutral.
As well as being environmentally friendly, the new brewery will bring employment to the area, a fact welcomed by Jaala Pulford the Minister for Regional Development.
“From 100 jobs to be created during construction and ongoing employment, as well as the value-add to the local economy, Broo at Ballarat will have a significant impact on the regional economy,” Pulford said.
“Regional Development Victoria advise us to expect the potential for upwards of 75,000 domestic and 25,000 international visitors per year to the region, providing an increase in tourism with an estimated value to be $28m per annum, which is an incredible boost to our local region.”
Construction for the brewery is expected to commence in February 2018.